


As Long As We're Together

by lotrfan88



Category: Bartimaeus - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: F/M, kitkob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28637388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lotrfan88/pseuds/lotrfan88
Summary: Part 1 of my AU scenario following the end of Ptolemy's Gate.Jakob and Kitty finally reunite after the events of book 3, when Jakob arrives back in London.
Relationships: Kitty Jones/Jakob Hyrnek





	As Long As We're Together

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of an AU scenario in which Nathaniel survives the events of Ptolemy's Gate, although that isn't actually relevant to this specific story. (I might write more later).  
> In this scenario, I changed some aspects of what happened in Part 5 of Ptolemy's Gate, such as Kitty's condition - her body did not prematurely age from going into The Other Place, rather, it started to decay.

Kitty was at the docks early, her hands shoved into her jacket pockets as she stared out at the open water. Jakob’s ship wouldn’t reach London for another twenty minutes at least, but she wanted to be sure she was there to meet him, and she couldn’t stand sitting around her apartment any longer. She had a brimmed cap pulled over her hair, shading her eyes and face in an attempt to mask her new scars. The scars she was still getting used to, from her trip to the Other Place. The scars she had said reminded her of his. She wondered if Jakob would be surprised when he saw her this way. 

She had spoken to him just a week ago on the telephone. Apparently the news of London’s widespread destruction had traveled quickly across the rest of Europe. Kitty had gone to visit the Hyrneks on the day after Nouda’s defeat, to see if they had made it through the chaos and stayed safe during the city’s upheaval. Thankfully they had remained indoors and structural damage to the family shop was minimal. It was during her visit that Jakob had called. The Hyrneks, being commoners, didn’t have a phone in their home, but running the print shop allowed them a telephone for business. 

_ “ _ Kitty,” he’d said, relief flooding his voice when he heard her speak. “Please don’t tell me you were involved in all this.” 

“I can’t see what would give you that idea,” she responded, unconvincingly. 

Jakob just sighed into the phone. 

“I don’t know where your demon research has led you, or how it resulted in near-destruction of the entire city,” he started. “But I’m coming back to help.” 

Kitty’s heart skipped for a brief moment and she blinked at the phone.

“What?” She said, concern touching her voice. “You can’t come back now, the city’s in chaos. The government is a mess. It could still be dangerous. Listen, I’ll come visit you soon, once everything is settled--”

“Where have I heard that line before?” Jakob interrupted in a tired tone of voice. “I’ve been waiting for long enough. I don’t know what happened over there, but if it was anything like the last time I was in London, I’m sure you were right in the middle of it. And you could have…”

His voice trailed off before he finished the sentence, and Kitty stood still, listening to his breathing, waiting for him to say more. 

“Kitty,” he said softly. “When I heard the news, I thought…”

Again silence. She held her breath. 

“I’m coming to see you,” Jakob said. “I need to. I’ll catch the first ship I can.”

Kitty felt her heart fill with warmth at the thought of seeing him. 

“Okay,” she said. 

The horn of a ship and the responding bells on the dock broke Kitty from her reverie. The ship was pulling into port and Kitty straightened and scanned the mob of people on board who were waiting to disembark. A ramp to the dock was lowered and the passengers started moving quickly across, eager to be on their way. She didn’t see Jakob until he stepped off the ramp and stood off to the side, readjusting his travelsack across one shoulder. He looked...taller, Kitty thought. Not much different really, just...older. Well of course he was older, she hadn’t seen him in three years. But he looked more sure of himself now, less reserved in his posture. His face wasn’t covered by the shadow of a hat or long hair, in fact his hair was relatively short, as if he were no longer ashamed of covering the scars that crossed his face. 

His eyes were scanning the crowds, looking for her she assumed. She didn’t move towards him, only watched until his eyes found her at the edge of the dock. He blinked and drew his brows together.  _ Does he even recognize me?  _ She thought as she stared back at him. But then a smile crossed his face and Kitty pulled a hand out of her pocket to wave at him. He picked up his second bag and made his way through the crowds towards her. 

“Kitty,” he said when he reached her, dropping his bags and pulling her immediately into a hug. She returned the embrace, pressing her face into his shoulder, as the warmth and happiness from seeing him here, safe, rushed through her. She could have stayed in his arms longer, the connection reminding her that there were still things in this world she didn’t want to let go of. There was a sense of home she felt when she was near him, a small part of her that was no longer empty or wanting more. 

But eventually he pulled away from the hug and held her shoulders at arms length, looking into her face before dropping his arms to his sides. 

“I can’t believe you never came to visit me,” he said, frowning at her. “In three whole years!” 

“I know,” Kitty said, averting her eyes. “I just got so caught up in everything. There’s been a lot going on here.”

“So I’ve heard,” Jakob said, glancing around at the people walking hurriedly through the docks towards the streets beyond. 

“I kept all your letters though,” she said, looking back up at him. “They helped me remember. To know that I wouldn’t be here forever. That it was all temporary. It just...ended up being more complicated than I thought.” 

“Complicated.” He reached his hand toward her face, brushing his fingers across the scars on her cheek. “What happened to you?” he said softly, sadly. 

“It was an unfortunate side effect of my research…” she said, not knowing fully how to explain what she had done. “I went to the Other Place, I mean, the demon world I guess you could call it. I didn’t know what the side effects would be, but we really had no other choice. So I didn’t even think twice. My body I guess...started to decompose while my soul was gone. I think only my resilience kept it from getting any worse. But now...well…”

Jakob reached up and lifted the hat from atop her head, pulling it away so that her short hair fell to frame her cheeks. 

“Now we match,” Jakob said, smirking at her. “So as long as we’re together, we’ll be fine.” 

Kitty curled the corner of her lip up to mirror his expression. 

“You think so, huh?” She said. “You don’t seem as concerned about your own scars anymore. Growing into them?” 

“You could say that,” he said. “I think I just got tired of hiding, really. Life’s too short, especially in this world. These scars are what gave me a second chance. We both know it could have been much worse.” 

Jakob’s eyes grew somber then and he looked down at his feet. Kitty frowned.

“I should have come back sooner,” he said. “When I first heard the news, I had no doubt that you were involved somehow. You’re just so reckless, all the time. And you don’t know when to stop or not go overboard.”

Kitty folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at him when he lifted his head up to meet her gaze again. 

“And you think you could have done anything to stop me?” she asked. “That you should have been here to protect me?”

Jakob rolled his eyes at her.

“Of course not,” he said. “I know that I can’t do anything against demons. I know that you’re stronger than me in every way possible. I just...kept thinking if something had happened to you...if I hadn’t gotten a chance to see you one more time and tell you…”

Kitty relaxed her stance and held his steady gaze. She knew what he was feeling. She had felt the same things when he had been in danger. When he had been hurt. She reached her hand out towards his face as he had done before, letting her fingers trace his scars before resting against his cheek. 

“This time, stay,” she said, and she pulled his face to hers and kissed him. 

She held her lips against his, feeling him return the kiss softly, his hands moving to her own face as they breathed into each other. They parted slowly, keeping their faces close, and she looked into his eyes and gave him another smirk.

“Because as long as we’re together, we’ll be fine,” she echoed. 

She took a step away from him and picked up her hat from the ground where he had dropped it, tucking it under her arm rather than placing it back on her head. She shook out her hair and tucked a strand behind her ear, revealing the dark red scars on her face more prominently. Kitty looked at him and held out her hand.

“Let’s go,” she said as he picked up his bags and locked his fingers with hers. “We have a lot to do.” 


End file.
